Archive for the ‘Dodge humpback van’ tag

While whipping our 1934 Dodge KC sedan delivery across the country in the 2005 and 2006 Great Races, we experienced quite a few problems with heat building up inside. To address some of the heat issues, we added additional insulation to the floorboards and exhaust wrap to the manifold and exhaust system, but we also wanted to cool the passenger compartment better. The front cowl vent supplies minimal ventilation and the fold-out windshield is helpful, but we felt more ventilation in the cab and rear area was needed. We decided that adding power rear windows to the flat glass on the rear swing-out doors would be a possible solution to the problem of interior heat. We were not very keen on chopping up the doors on our classic truck; however, we felt the addition of power windows would be the best way to provide the extra air flow we were looking for. We decided on a kit from A-1 Electric designed specifically for street rods with flat glass, part number EL-2000K because it comes with clamps to hold the bottom of the window. A-1 also markets a flat glass kit that comes with a lower window sash and rollers for a window track and a kit is also available for curved glass.

We did it! We finished the race and finished better than last year; we came in 53rd place (last year we came in 61st). Our last race morning starting from San Rafael with temperatures very cool – it soon warmed up in the 90s. The first rally was on the Imeron Infineon Raceway – we all enjoyed our visit. Jim and I came through with a decent score for the day. We spent the evening attending the closing ceremony where Jim awarded the trophy for the Hemmings Rookie Challenge. The remainder of the night we all watched a well depicted photo chronicle.

Craig, editor of Hemmings Sports & Exotic (the driver for the first few days) did a great job in the Trophy run and first day of the race. Jim (the publisher) completed the race with tremendous focus and excellent driving. Our journey was an amazing experience and a lot of fun. Jeff and Terry, Hemmings reps, did a fantastic job selling a little over 300 subscriptions – good job guys. Jim Howe kept our vehicle in tip top shape and Dave did a great job keeping the Dodge clean and taking over 400 photos – many of which have been on the blog. For a complete photo journal of our participation in the race go to greatrace.com and click on Hemmings Blog, to the left of the opening page.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the race, all the friends we made, the many people we visited in the towns and cities across this wonderful country and to the coordinators of the Great Race. It truly is an experience of a lifetime.

Watch for more 2006 Great Race coverage in our magazine.

Their 0:49.56 score gave them a 38th in their division, 63rd overall and an 8:39.55 cumulative score for that 53rd place finish.

Congratulations also go to Ken Grosskopf and Denis Vandevoort – driving a 1955 Ford Thunderbird – on winning the Hemmings Rookie Challenge, with a 6:14.79 cumulative score and a 37th place finish. Sorry about that. Ken and Denis won the rookie class on the last day. The Hemmings Rookie Challenge award went to Todd and Greg Goudeau, in car No. 75, a 1928 Ford speedster, who actually finished 36th overall with a total score of 6:13.62. Car No. 21, Jody and Tony Knowles, in a 1929 Ford speedtster, seems to have won the rookie class, placing fifth overall with a total score of 2:49.85.

And finally, Jonathan and Jake Auerbach, who have provided us several entertaining updates, finished 73rd overall in their Lazzarino, with a total score of 17:54.84.

We pulled a 0.23 today!! we are thrilled. It was a fabulous day. We began the journey from Pueblo, CO, setting our speedo to compensate for the elevation. The scenery was breathtaking the entire day. It wasn’t easy for our beautiful blue Dodge to transition to the steep climbs. Jims driving was amazing.

Our support crew had a few problems with the car show truck – it broke down on Wolf Creek Pass. A local man from Durango towed the broken down truck to a local shop. We hope they are able to get the truck going on our day off tomorrow. The national guard towed the trailer to the event in Durango last night. We have a lot of folks to thank, their names will be mentioned in my next entry.

Dave did a great job taking photos of our stop in Alamosa, the gorgeous scenery and Durango. Til next time.

That 0.23:95 score was worth 13th in their division, 30th overall and a move up to 59th in the cumulative standings, according to the Great Race results page. Probably more impressive, yesterday’s score included four near-aces, one of them at one second off.

I’m back from spending two days behind the tiller of our ’34 Dodge in the Great Race 2006. I drove for two days because Jim Menneto was on the Hemmings cruise to Alaska, and couldn’t make it back in time for the start.

I did two days in last year’s race, but quite honestly, I had no idea what I was doing. But none of us did, so I wasn’t at that much of a disadvantage.

When Jim asked me to do the first two days, Janet and I decided that we should at least spend some time trying to figure out exactly how the race worked, and how we could improve our scores.

The first thing you need to do is to forget anything you already think you know about getting from one place to another. Most rallies are time-speed-distance (TSD) events. The Great Race is not like most rallies. Unlike any other rally, you can’t use a rally computer, and your odometer has to be obscured. The only tools available to you are the route sheet (given 20 minutes before the start of the rally) a stopwatch, a clock and a speedometer.

Theoretically, you can do the Great Race with the speedometer that’s already in your car, but you’re almost guaranteed to do poorly. What you need is a calibrated, adjustable speedometer that reads in one-mile-per-hour increments. They’re expensive, but they’re accurate:

The Timewise 825 may look like an analog speedometer, but it’s fully digital.

Calibrating said speedometer took me the better part of a year to figure out, only to realize that I’d been doing it correctly a year ago when we first installed it. Every morning, the rallymaster sets you off on a speedometer calibration run. At a prescribed point, the driver holds the car at 50 mph for a set period of time. In this case, let’s say it was 36 minutes, 15 seconds. The navigator keeps track of the actual elapsed time. Let’s say our elapsed time was 35 minutes, 11 seconds. In this case, we arrived one minute, four seconds early in a speedometer calibration run of 36 minutes. Not good when every second counts in a full day of driving.

Speedo calibration was the great debate for us in 2005, but this year it seemed like second nature.

Janet and I had spent hours and hours developing a performance chart so that we could figure out time loss going from one speed to another, or for corners in which we had to drop down to first gear. Here’s what it looks like:

So, with all that time and effort invested, it was all the more frustrating that we were off by more than two minutes in the Trophy Run.

Theresa Coker, navigator for Car #88, the Coker Special, was a godsend.

Both Watson and Coker spent a lot of time (time they could’ve been spending preparing) helping us figure out where we’d made mistakes. Our errors were mostly in consistency. Believe it or not, varying the way you accelerate and decelerate for speed changes and full stops will make a huge difference at the end of the day.

After drilling ourselves all morning, we got underway through a twisting, turning course along the back roads of Amish Country. We’d just get finished with one 90 degree turn and we’d have to execute another, losing precious seconds that we’d then have to account for and make up before the next turn. And all this while trying not to drive off the road, or into one of the hundred horse-drawn buggies we saw that afternoon.

We second-guessed ourselves and cursed our preparation methods, but by the end of the day, we finished with a score of 1:07. That stinks if you’re setting out to win, but it’s a tremendous improvement from our 2:00-plus day on the Trophy Run.

Alas, just as I felt I had a handle on what it was I was doing, it was time to leave so that Jim could take over. I spent some time with Jim, trying to educate him on what I’d learned. He’s got 12 days to practice, so by the time he gets back, he’ll be the expert and I’ll be trying to soak in all that he’s learned.

Good luck Jim and Janet. I’ll be pulling for you every step of the way.

Our intrepid Great Racers loaded up the Hemmings Dodge humpback van this morning in preparation for the Great Race, scheduled to start June 24 in Philadelphia and run through July 8 in San Rafael, California.

If you see ’em on the highway, make sure to wave howdy. We’ve also set up plans to provide updates and pictures here on the blog from the road, so keep checking back then.